Australians bring their beef about McDonald's to Chicago

Their arrival is the culmination of a two-year battle pitting grass-roots opposition against the giant hamburger chain.

September 13, 2013|By Robert Channick | Tribune reporter

(Robert Prezioso, Getty Images)

Garry Muratore has come to Chicago from the land down under with one goal in mind: stopping McDonald's from building a restaurant in his small Australian hometown.

And while Tecoma, a suburb of Melbourne bordering a national park, has only about 2,000 residents, Muratore has lots of support. He and three fellow villagers have brought a petition with nearly 100,000 signatures to present to the Oak Brook-based chain next week, asking McDonald's to locate its planned 24/7 drive-thru restaurant elsewhere.

"They can run a business if it's in the correct location," said Muratore, 54, a software consultant and longtime Tecoma resident. "And this is not the correct location."

Their arrival is the culmination of a two-year battle pitting grass-roots opposition against the giant hamburger chain. An application filed in 2011 to build the McDonald's — near mountains, forests and protected parkland in the Dandenong Ranges — stirred protests from the start.

"It's a little bit like putting a McDonald's right near Mount Rushmore," Muratore said. "That's what we think about the Dandenong Ranges; it's such a pristine forest, and they don't need to be there."

Some 1,170 people filed written objections, and about 650 attended a 2011 city council vote, which was unanimously against the restaurant. McDonald's appealed to a regional body and prevailed on the basis of being "appropriately zoned," according to McDonald's Australia spokesman Ron Christianson.

Unable to deter McDonald's Australia or local franchisee James Currie, who owns two nearby restaurants, the protesters raised money to send the contingent to Chicago, where they will try to present their petition to McDonald's CEO Don Thompson on Wednesday.

The protesters took out an ad in the Chicago Tribune, and on Monday they are planning to inflate 50 kangaroos near the Hard Rock Cafe on West Ontario Street.

Christianson said such vehement opposition to a McDonald's is "extremely rare" and noted that the Tecoma location would bring 100 jobs to the community. Muratore said the vast majority of his village isn't buying it.

"It's a David and Goliath story," Muratore said. "Most of Australia is rooting for us."